Endorsement: Warren Evans is best choice for Wayne County executive

Jul. 13, 2014

Warren Evans / None

Written by

The Detroit Free Press Editorial Board

In the crowded race to oust Wayne County executive Robert Ficano, a few names rise to the top: state Rep. Phil Cavanagh, former Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans, Wayne County Commissioner Kevin McNamara and Westland Mayor William Wild.

And though each man possesses strengths and a specific depth of experience, one is the clear leader. We urge Wayne County voters to choose WARREN EVANS for county executive.

Evans, who also served as Detroit police chief, understands the fiscal problems that Wayne County faces. He has managed large budgets, and has the savvy to build a team equal to the county’s challenges. His time as county sheriff made him aware of the county’s law enforcement functions. And he’s got the gravitas to negotiate with Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, whose support is essential for a smoothly operating county with a balanced budget.

The struggle to balance Wayne County’s budget, fund its pensions and resolve how and where it will house its criminal justice operations will define the term of the next county executive — if the county can avoid a financial takeover under the state’s emergency manager law. That’s far from certain.

The county, as it stands, has a roughly $99-million accumulated budget deficit — down from about $175 million in the last fiscal year — and an $18.8-million operating shortfall, meaning the county spends $18.8 million more each year than it takes in. Its pension system is underfunded by about $850 million, meaning the county has just 45% of the resources it needs to make good on its pension promises over the next 30 years; it has failed to set aside any money at all for retiree health care.

Evans has the experience and know-how to see the county through this turbulent time.

As sheriff, he worked with leaders of communities in Wayne County, and can forge ties with those leaders. This kind of cooperation will be key in determining which county services are core, and which can be shed.

But Evans must use good judgment. Former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing asked Evans to submit his resignation as police chief in 2010. Bing told the Free Press at the time that his decision was prompted by “a combination of things”; namely, that Evans was working with A&E to film a reality TV show pilot about police officers in Detroit and was dating a subordinate. An A&E film crew taping for a separate show had accompanied officers from the department’s Special Response Team in a raid on an east side home that resulted in the fatal police shooting of a 7-year-old girl, Aiyana Stanley-Jones. There’s no indication the presence of the film crew was related to Jones’ death.

Still, these are the kinds of bad calls the head of Wayne County can’t afford to make.

Because this is a partisan seat, and because Wayne County is largely Democratic, it’s almost certain the next county executive will be decided in the Aug. 5 primary. Turnout is expected to be low, somewhere around 150,000, a small fraction of the total number of registered voters in the county. That’s unfortunate — this is a decision every Wayne County voter should take part in making.

While we believe Evans is the clear choice, it’s worth noting that Westland’s William Wild is also an impressive candidate. He has served as the mayor of Michigan’s 14th largest city — the fifth-largest in Wayne County, behind Detroit, Dearborn, Livonia and Canton — since 2007. He has led the city through tough financial times, and has overseen the increase of millage rates designed to fund the city’s underfunded pension system. Though taxpayers don’t like to hear it, the way out of this statewide pension crisis must include increasing revenue.

Wild has attracted impressive business community support, and is clearly familiar with the specifics of Westland’s budget. But he’s not quite ready to helm an entity as complex as Wayne County in such turbulent times.

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Cavanagh and McNamara, both sons of famous political fathers, have served capably in legislative roles. But neither has the kind of vision or appeal necessary for this kind of political step up.

And then there’s Ficano himself.

Before 2011, it would have been difficult to imagine how fast and how far Ficano would fall. His lengthy career in public service had been, if not outstanding, solid enough to win the Free Press endorsement in every previous election.

Then everything changed. First came a dust-up over a large severance payment made to a top aide and questions about the county’s economic development activities, followed by an FBI corruption probe and a slew of federal indictments. Ficano has never been charged with a crime, but there’s no question that bad things happened on his watch, and as the person in charge, he is answerable to the things that happen in his administration.

In the most charitable possible interpretation of events, Ficano was asleep at the wheel while members of his team broke the law. It’s simply not good enough.